Sunday, April 13, 2008

Stephen King is kind of a jerk.

Now don't get me wrong. Mr. King is an amazing writer. I really do enjoy most his novels and stories, such as his Dark Tower series (hated the ending tho!).
So anyway they've got Nightmare's and Dreamscape's on tv, and my wife and I were watching it. The one titled The Road Virus Heads North came on. Now I read the short story and, while kinda pointless, it was nevertheless at least mildly entertaining. The story is about a horror novelist who is extremely popular, much like Mr. King himself. At the beginning, he is at a book signing, and he gets swarmed with fans who want his autograph. Then the camera turns to a very obnoxious lady who, with super wide eyes, asks him how he comes up with his ideas. Then comes a guy who looks like he's guilty of something very illegal, and he asks, "Hey! Hey! Do you ever scare yourself???!!!" The man then gets a look of supreme satisfaction on his face. And, last but of course not least, comes a very hairy and overweight guy who, looking constipated, pulls off his shirt, exposing his bare back upon which is a tattoo of the author, all the while asking if the author would sign it.
The author rolls his eyes, and walks off.
Guess what World. Stephen King just gave all of his fans the proverbial finger. How does that make ya feel, huh? Doesn't matter that it's your money that allows him to live at his estate "Cara Laughs" in Maine. Nope. He'll take your money and then tell ya to go screw yourself. Thanks Mr. King!

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have been an avid Stephen King fan for years now...Love most of his books, especially DT series...a large portion of my life has been spent reading, re-reading, and re-re-reading all the books of his I own.

But honestly, yes he is an asshole in real life as far as I can tell from just about everything I've read that he's written, most notably in his FAQ's where he answers general fan questions about this and that.

Recall one about "Do you have halloween parties..." or something, and the first thing he says "Do NOT come to our house on Halloween"...also a question that says something like "Do you host a yearly campfire" something or other...to which he responds how "no" he doesn't and how they did this once and it was "a little fun".

Other examples I could note, but honestly he seems pretty much dismissive of his millions of fans...granted i understand after being such a successful figure for so many years and having such an enormous fanbase, that this would naturally turn one against the throngs of people such as he portrays in the bit you are describing (which is obviously a reflection of himself and how he feels about his fans)....

I love his writings and always will, but I don't see myself inviting him over for pizza anytime soon.

Anonymous said...

The guy is an asshole, pure and simple. If Paul McCartney {who is a bigger star that Stephen King} can sign for everyone, then he can do. F*ck Stephen King!

Anonymous said...

I once bumped into Mr. King at a hotel desk in Manhattan. I said "I love your work." And he just turned around and walked away, like he didn't even hear (not possible, unless he suffers from some severe hearing loss.) I was a big fan when I was a kid. As an adult, I would not have walked across the street to meet him. Nevertheless, I thought it sad. How hard is it to say, "Thanks?"

Anonymous said...

I experienced the same when I saw him at a Timberwolves Game in Mpls (apparently he is a big basketball fan). Told him that I was a 'big fan of his work", and his reply was, "yeah, whatever" and turned his back on me, walked away. Never bought another of his novels again after that.

Daniel (schpoingle) said...

I know this is an old post...but there's an updated comment ever few years so what the hell. I had to see if other's felt the same and blab a little bit about him.
I got the sense he was a prick in his writing. Reading the dark tower series and watching it slowly deteriorate in writing while picking up incredibly in arrogance. He writes himself into the novel. Has the characters call him talented. Then writes a character for the man who hit him in a car on accident....i looked this up and was appalled to see how king treated the whole thing. He totally blamed the guy and insulted his intelligence and saying it's lower than an empty tomato can. He wasn't angry with cars or the speed limit or the system. He blamed this guy publicly and used his leverage to try and get him put in jail and when you read about this poor guys life. What he went through, first as any human does who is in such an accident , and then as a publicly demonized figure. He killed himself after being tortured by King fans who went to his house, yelled obscenities at him, threw him the finger or just hung around taking pictures. KIng says he's happy to be alive in the same sentence as saying he's sorry the guy died so young. Not that he died necessarily but so young.
Really besides this one incident of personal stuff which i guess you can separate from his writing...but his writing pisses me off even more sometimes. His arrogance in assuming he can always ride off his brief talent as a younger writer and assume it will be in every sentence he writes as a washed up diva pisses me off....no...it's also because it shows how stupid people are. How many people don't notice the difference. Or maybe they do and are too overwhelmed with celebrity to think badly when the other sheep don't.
crap. i'm just rambling, angry. i don't want the stupid bastard in my brain space. I should have given up on his later writing career sooner.
But, to ramble angrily a little more, he wouldn't stand a chance writing in another genre. This is the true key to his success. It only takes a mildly capable writer to succeed in horror. No self respecting writer would...so we get a stephen king.

Schpidah said...

Entitlement because you read his books?! McCartney worshipper, you sir, are the ass. Stephen King lives in his own head. He just wants to be left alone to do what he does best. The rest of us are just distractions. So in addition to being a fantastic author, you want to require him to be your best buddy? You already feel like he is your friend, from reading his books. You're just miffed that the connection you feel is not mutual. Truth is, he is your friend, but in the only realistically feasible way one man can be, to his millions of fans, by letting us get to know him through his correspondence to us, sometimes 2x a year! I'd take that over a Christmas Card once a year. 😀

Unknown said...

You're probably one of the dicks that tormented the poor bastard that was unfortunate enough to hit him with his car.

Unknown said...

Now, now, Stephen (aka Schpidah)! Just because you live in your own head, that doesn't mean that you have the right to treat other people (especially your fans) like dirt. Now, why don't you run along and work on another overrated (and falsely labeled, "brilliant") book?

Anonymous said...

You do realise the guy who "killed himself" was a drug addict, with a bad driving record, don't you?

Writers are not stars.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Unknown said...

(***This post contains spoilers!!)
I was a fan of King when I was a child. I think that pretty much sums up his 'vast talent.' I have been lulled into reading further into one or two of his novels only to be disappointed by his utter inability to take a strong opening premise (idea) to the finish-line. I find it quite easy (as a writer myself) to come up with a super cool idea, a sort of- 'Wow that's cool, I wonder what it means?' type of beginning, only to NOT be able to resolve the scenario.
Example: His book 'Revival,' opened quite strong and was a page turner because the reader is wondering- 'What? How? WTF is going on with the experiments and the 'prismatic visions'... and so forth, only to get to the end and find out everything.... and I mean EVERYTHING, is due to these fucking mutant ant-creatures that make dead people work in the Null. Whatever the fuck that is.
My point: It ain't that hard to come up with cool 'what if you saw...?' OR 'what if this happened...?'- at the beginning of your story. The hard part is finishing that thought with an ending that is as satisfying and cool as the beginning. This is why I think King should have stuck to Short Stories, where he can make ample use out of the 'unresolved ending.' Which, in a Short Story can be used to wrap-up a good idea that would be next to impossible to resolve, and, make it look like you meant to do it that way... Clever.
Which, in conclusion is how I would sum up King's work.
Masterful? Hell no!
Clever...? Yeah- sure, why not.

Unknown said...

What world do you live in that wants Obama back in office?he almost destroyed the is in his attempts to make it a third world country

Megawhat1985 said...

God you people are cry babies. The world doesn't revolve around you and your feelings. You are not entitled to Stephen Kings attention or anyone else's for that matter.

Anonymous said...

The comment section reads like the bathroom stall at a gay bar. By that I mean, just a bunch of dumb self important fags writing on a random wall

Anonymous said...

Fake news from ya'll qaeda

Anonymous said...

I'd say "best buddy" is you mentally jerking off. Nobody is demanding his friendship. Just some basic social kindness when someone is kind to him. But here you are, pulling your pud...

Ninneek said...

Doesn't make him less of an asshat. Yes ppl are entitled however having the right to do something doesn't necessarily justify it.

Ninneek said...

Supposed quotes of his from another post: “This is a guy who only has a little bit of brains to begin with. I mean I have fantasies of confronting him,’ King wrote in the extract. ‘But Bryan Smith is like Gertrude Stein said about LA “There’s no there, there”.’
Basically, the “woke” Stephen King was mocking the man’s intellectual disability. He is allowed to get away with that because he is ugly Stephen King. People in Maine know that he is evil, but they also want to be his friend because he is famous.
Stephen King also stated:
‘Call it fate, call it God … But what you’re left with is this guy, who has the IQ of a tomato soup can. An empty tomato soup can. And he hits me at the one blind spot on a long road, no one else to hit for miles, when, say Nasa can’t get a missile to land on Mars with all the brains and technology in the world, then you think there’s something odd going on. Or maybe Nasa should just hire Bryan Smith.’

Of course theres a lot more f'ed up SK quotes and tbh some of the ones in these comments aren't bad at all. But F him still in 2021

Grimace said...

Honestly...out of all the stupid things I've written over the years, never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd start a Stephen King bash thread that would last 13 years. I supposed this will be my mark on humanity.

I was about to delete this entire blog, but part of me wants to see how long this thing lasts.

Anonymous said...

King blows! He is an asshat. The only decent thing he has written in a decade is Dr. Sleep. He has become an arrogant writer and it shows in his lackluster writing.

Anonymous said...

King is shallow and ugly and it shows in his daily interactions with others.

Anonymous said...

Stephen King is vile on Twitter. Just read his twitter posts. Enough said!

Edward said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Edward said...

I farted in Stephen King's face when he was a teenager and a milk dud shot out in my pants and a little bit got on his glasses. This was how he came up with the idea for IT. True Story. The guy never recovered and became socially awkward.